


An Ineffable Shapeshifter

by lilolilyrae



Series: An Ineffable Romance [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Snake Crowley (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-24 15:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20361004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilolilyrae/pseuds/lilolilyrae
Summary: Crowley is one snakey boi





	1. Snake in a Penthouse Flat

It has been quite a while since the apocalypse that wasn't, and Crowley has half- moved into the bookshop with Aziraphale. Well, he still has his flat (because the majority of his plants just wouldn't fit into Aziraphale's shop without turning it into, quote Aziraphale, 'a moist jungle harmful to all of my fragile books!'), but he barely ever goes there anymore, only checking on his plants from time to time or, if he feels claustrophobic in the small bookstore, taking Aziraphale with him to read in the big living room of his flat while he tends to the plants- a lot quieter than when the angel isn't around of course.  
  
Either way, he and Aziraphale are barely apart- after centuries, millenia of getting used to each other but never being allowed to really stick around, they don't see much reason to separate now- especially after Aziraphale kissed Crowley one night.  
  
So when Aziraphale comes back to the shop from a quick trip to the convenience store two blocks away and finds the shop abandoned, no note, no anything from Crowley telling him where he has gone, he freezes.  
  
Has hell got him?  
  
Or, possibly worse, heaven?  
  
  
  
Hasting to the telephone, he dials Crowley's number.   
  
Oh, please pick up, you silly demon, please-   
  
There's a clattering noise like the phone falling down, a moment of silence, but then Crowley answers: "What isssss ith, angel?"  
  
"Oh, Crowley? Are you alright? I was so worried when I saw you weren't here! Could you leave a note perhaps next time when you go check on your plants so I don't think you are in trouble- you are not in trouble, are you?" relieved to hear Crowley's voice, Aziraphale starts to ramble.  
  
"Everythhhing isssss fine" Crowley hisses, and then the call disconnects.  
  
Aziraphale stares down at the telephone in his hand, dumbstruck. It has been ages since Crowley acted so coldly towards him...  
  
No, this can't be right. He has to go check and see for himself whether everything is alright with the demon.  
  
  
  
  
  
Crowley, meanwhile, is miserable.   
  
There he has it, he can't even properly handle a phone in this form!  
  
Hands, he wants his hands back, and his legs pretty please... Ugh.   
  
Because yes, at the moment, Crowley is very much a serpent, and not just some internal character traits. Nope. He's a snake, and he hates it.  
  
Well. Maybe not completely so. He likes slithering around, actually, and even more so laying in a sunny spot and having the sunrays warm up his scales. He likes scaring people with his forked tongue. He likes how cool this form looks.  
  
But he hates that he doesn't have a choice!   
  
He used to change into the serpent form all the time during the first few millenia, liking how being a shapeshifter made him even more unpredictable. So it wasn't until 1000AC that he noticed: when he doesn't change into this form so frequently, his body decides the shape for himself.  
  
The terrified screams of the people still rang in his ears to this day. He hadn't meant to scare them that badly, heaven be-   
  
Ugh. So yes, Crowley is the serpent damned to crawl on earth for all eternity.  
  
Fun times.  
  
And Aziraphale can definitely never find out about this.  
  
He already doesn't want to show the angel this form when he has the choice, because while it is undeniably cool, it is not very cute or sexy or in any way something one wants to look like while in a relationship with a very pretty man-shaped creature.  
  
In retrospect, given how much time he spent with the angel lately, and how little time to relax he had in the years before the almost-apocalypse, it was really no wonder the serpentine form was forced onto him now.  
  
And Aziraphale... Either the angel would be terrified, finally realise that yes, Crowley is an actual demon with a form fitting to it and leave him, or even worse, he'd show him pity and ask him to come back to the bookshop once he manages to switch back to his human form.  
  
And Crowley is not sure he would survive such mortification.

As Aziraphale hurries up the stairs to Crowley's flat, worry making him all jittery, clouding his mind. He almost stumbles twice. Of course, he could have miracle himself closer, right to the front door or even inside Crowley’s flat, but- what if it _is_ heaven or hell who are causing Crowley trouble, like he first feared when the demon wasn’t to be found? Then a miracle so close would be drawing unwanted attention, he needs the benefit of surprise on his side…

Taking a deep breath, Aziraphale forces himself to calm down. He is no use to the demon when he is a nervous wreck himself. It’s just- yes, Crowley said that he is fine, but he didn't _sound_ fine and it would be just like Crowley to recognise the danger and try to keep Aziraphale safe by not telling him anything.

He opens the door- it’s unlocked, but then it never is. Crowley knows that everyone who poses a threat to him wouldn’t be stopped by a lock, and he doesn’t care about his material possessions enough to bother with security either, other than Aziraphale he even miracles his clothes.

The only room in the flat that _does_ have a lock is the one that holds his plants. And when Aziraphale approaches it now, he can hear noises- someone moving around- and a groaning, no, it’s still a hissing sound, definitely Crowley, but it almost sounds like he’s in pain?!

Miracling the door wide open, Aziraphale freezes at the scene in front of him.

There’s no-one here but Crowley- a massive black snake, yet undeniably him, it doesn’t matter that Aziraphale has only seen this shape of him once before out of the corner of his eye six thousand years ago: he would recognise those eyes anywhere. Crowley is sprawled on top of the windowsill, having been basking in the sun surrounded by his plants.

When he sees Aziraphale, the demon shrinks back, trying to hide, and knocks over one of his precious plants in the process.

Aziraphale hurries forward to catch it, and when he puts the plant on the ground with shaky hands and looks back up, he is suddenly a lot closer to Crowley than before.

The demon is looking at him, frozen like a statue, hasn’t even spoken since Aziraphale came in- then again, neither has he.

Looking more closely, he can see the sun making Crowley’s black scales shimmer in all the colours of the rainbow, how elegantly Crowley is wound around and in-between his plants without as much as touching them- knocking the one over had definitely been an outlier and due to the scare of Aziraphale showing up.

But why did that scare Crowley? He was so beautiful like this… Oh, and his wonderful golden eyes, free from his sunglasses now…

Aziraphale reaches a hand out to caress Crowley’s side, not breaking the eye contact with the demon.

Crowley shrinks back again when he sees Aziraphale move. The angel freezes, hand still outstretched, looking at him with questioning eyes. No, he can’t mean to- does he really want to? While he…? 

"May I touch you?" Aziraphale’s question answers Crowley’s concerns.

"_Pleassssse_" 

The plea escapes Crowley's serpentine mouth before he can stop it, he doesn't even know where that came from, but suddenly he feels _desperate_ for the angel's touch. 

Aziraphale steps forward, and when his hand brushes against Crowley’s scales for the first time, the serpent shudders.

Smiling, Aziraphale gently pets his side for a while, the squats next to the windowsill so they are eyelevel and pets Crowley’s head, smiling at him.

“Are you quite alright, my dear? I mean- no visit from above or below, was there? No-one did this to you?”

“No-one but hher, sssix thhhousand yearsss ago” Crowley hisses, then noses at Aziraphale’s palm in what he hopes is a soothing way when he sees the angel’s eyes go wide.

“It’ss not ssso bad, angel. Usssually I can controlll it”

Aziraphale nods, still a little anxious, but clearly not repulsed by Crowley’s form itself.

“Is there anything I can do to help you, get you more comfortable perhaps?” he asks.

Oh, Crowley thinks, he doesn’t deserve this angel in the least.

Once Crowley has calmed down from what no, was definitely not even in the slightest a panic attack, because he's a demon and demons don't have panic attacks, he starts to realize what has just happened.  
  
Aziraphale found him.  
  
Aziraphale saw him in his most demonous state, and instead of running, the angel has petted him.  
  
Crowley can barely believe his luck.  
  
But because he's a masochist sometimes and because a part of him still wants to rip off the bandaid in one go and see Aziraphale finally run in terror, he needs to try the angel's boundaries.  
  
  
  
Slithering closer, he starts at Aziraphale's arm, which is closest to him, and crawls up.  
  
Aziraphale just watches with a bemused expression.  
  
Crowley hisses into hid ear and slithers around his neck.  
  
Aziraphale actually giggles!  
  
Alright, Crowley decides, the angel is just completely nuts, nothing to do about it.  
He does feel gleeful and happy when the angel starts stroking his snout again. Ngk. Angel, what are you doing to me?  
  
"You feel awfully cold, Crowley..." Aziraphale mumbles, but before Crowley can slither away from the bare skin of Aziraphale’s neck, the angel continues: "This cannot be comfortable for you, dearest, can it? Shall we get you warmed up?"  
  
Crowley can only nod. Of fucking course the angel is worried about his wellbeing instead of his own.  
  
  
  
"Shall we move this to the bathtub, dearest? I can only imagine you would like a hot bath at least as much in this form as in your other, do you? And I believe we still have a bathbomb or two..."  
  
Crowley nods again, feeling a little embarrassed. He had thought about taking a bath earlier, but...  
  
"What is it, dearest?"  
  
"Can't turn on thhhe water" he hisses, curling up even more around Aziraphale and hiding his face in the scales of his body. "Miraclesss arre harder too and I can't chhanggge back, so..."  
  
"Oh, dearest!" Aziraphale still doesn't quite understand why Crowley is caught in his serpent form right now, buy he thinks Crowley would act more agitated if he thought it was permanent, so he doesn't worry too much. He's sure Crowley will tell him all about it sooner or later.  
  
Holding Crowley close to his body, Aziraphale now strides to bathroom with purpose, miracling the faucets to already be running by the time they step into the room.  
  
With a snap of his fingers, his clothes are gone, and he shivers as Crowley is suddenly laying completely on his bare skin. The snake really is terribly cold, but what shall one expect on a cloudy day in England?  
  
Before Crowley can apologize for the cold or try to retreat again, Aziraphale steps into the hot water, untangling Crowley gently from his neck and laying him onto his chest instead.  
  
They sink into the water, Crowley curling up on top of Aziraphale.  
  
Aziraphale continues stroking the serpent, and Crowley slowly relaxes into the touch, snuggling his head into the crook of the angel's neck. He feels heavy on top of him, yet not heavier than the man would be, and at this point, Aziraphale is well used to Crowley lazing about on top of him while he's trying to read on the couch. At least now no elbows are digging into his stomach.  
  
If Crowley could smile properly in this state, he would be grinning like, stupid feeling completely giddy. And really, he should have known- whether he deserves it or not, Aziraphale has always been too good, there is no way he would have left him over something like this.  
  
  
"I love you, dearest" Aziraphale says with a kiss to Crowley's head.  
  
"Even like thhisss?" Crowley can't help asking, despite all the reassurance Aziraphale has given him in the past hours.  
  
"No matter your shape. Our love is-"  
  
"Don't sssay it!"  
  
Aziraphale chuckles: "Ineffable."  
  
  
  
And suddenly, while a part of Crowley still wishes he could turn back into his human form whenever he wants- as long as he's curled up in warm water with Aziraphale, it doesn't feel all that bad anymore.

Crowley is stuck in his serpentine shape for hours, then days, and Aziraphale stays with him, doesn't even leave to check on his bookshop when he sees the badly hidden flinch at the mention of it.  
  
Not that Crowley is worried about himself per se, if left alone- he's gone through this before, had been forced into snake form for an entire week after spending a wartime in his human body, and that had only been around five years.  
Now, it had been more than eleven. No, he's sure he just has to sit off the time he should have spent as a snake in the last decade now all at once, and he'll be fine.  
  
But Aziraphale... He isn't used to this, and Crowley is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He wonders whether he will ever stop overthinking it. At least, he realises, he now _rationally_ knows that he might keep worrying for a long time because he does believe Aziraphale will stick around for that time. But believing it in his heart is a different question entirely.   
  
  
  
The angel doesn't ask about his predicament, and for the first few days, he doesn't feel like explaining.   
  
They lounge around on the couch in front of the TV, in bed or in the bathtub. Aziraphale miracles a few of his books and starts reading out loud to Crowley. It's comfortable, comforting, and Crowley doesn't want to break the nice atmosphere by talking about his problems- even though one of them is already quite the elephant in the room. Or, well, the snake.  
  
One evening, Crowley has slithered away from Aziraphale to lay down with the plants again. That in itself is nothing new, he has enjoyed the warmth there whenever the sun is shining, and it's the only place he has been alone in since Aziraphale came to visit.  
  
What is new is that it is raining outside, sun already setting, and he still chose to leave Aziraphale alone for his place amongst the plants.  
  
He is thinking.   
  
Has to think, because he wants to talk about this, and he needs a gameplan.   
  
But nothing comes to his mind.  
  
  
  
Aziraphale comes looking for him an hour later. He wanted to give Crowley some space first, but has grown more and more worried as the minutes passed by, until he couldn't help but check on the other man / snake / demon.  
  
  
  
"Crowley, dear? Are you quite alright?"   
  
Crowley huffs out a breath, lifts his head a little and nods. "We need to talk, angggel."  
  
  
  
"Well, I need to tell you sssomethhing, really"   
  
He continues, after Aziraphale takes a seat on the chair next to the windowsill.  
  
"I am listening, dear" Aziraphale says, voice soft and soothing, and Crowley knows the angel will truly be listening intently.  
  
"I guesss you were wondering why I'vve been a sssssnake..." he trails of.  
  
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, dearest" Aziraphale says, stroking a finger over his snout. It should feel condescending, but Crowley knows it isn't meant that way, and he only feels comfort in the touch.  
  
"_Yessss__ I need to tell you_" he continues, hissing growing stronger. He's never quite able to talk without hissing while in this shape, but it's not usually this bad, even words without s-sounds in them coming out slurred, but he doesn't feel the energy to both focus on what he needs to say and how he says it.  
  
"_I can't chhange back! I mean I will, don't worry, but I can't rright now. I was alwayssw supposed to crawl on earthh and when I don't for too long I end up like thissssss ssssuddenly and I can't chhanggge back..."_  
  
"Oh, Crowley!"   
  
Aziraphale looks contrite, sitting closer, pressing a kiss to his scales and stroking his side. He had suspected something like this, of course, yet nonetheless hoped that it had rather be something along the lines of Crowley needing the comfort of a less human form after the chaos of the non-apocalypse- but to instead be forced into this form...

"_Don__'t look sso ssssad, anggel, thhiss is what I desss-"_  
  
"Don't you say _deserve_!" Aziraphale interrupts him fiercely, fixing him with a stare. "We have been over this! Oh Crowley, I have known you for so long, and the very first time we met you were the serpent, I just never knew it wasn't voluntary! I thought demons could change their appearance the way they wanted it to look!"

  
Aziraphale has Crowley explain everything to him: that no, the other demons don't actually change their animal-like bodies at all but control different forms with them instead, but that Crowley actually likes being human-shaped most, maybe because he had been an angel for quite some time before the fall and the human body comes closer to that than the one of a snake, and that yes, usually he can change his appearance at will, he's quite trained in it actually, suspects other demons could do the same if they tried- but that after the stint with the apple, he had been forced to be a snake at least once every year or so, or his body would at some point do it for him.  
  
"I actually like being a sssnake, mosst of the time" he finishes, wiggling around awkwardly, bot knowing how to explain this properly. "But now, it'ss like- I mean, I jussst don't have a choisss, and I don't know when I'll have thhe choice again, so I just feel _ssssstuck_... It's like when you're in an elevator, and I know you prefer sstairs to them, but ussually it's sstill okay, exssssept when the thing getss ssssssstuck- and imagine you can't miracle your way out of it, it'ss jusst, jusssst-"   
  
"Oh dearest!" Aziraphale looks down at Crowley's serpentine shape, and a plan starts to take form in his mind. He doesn't know how long Crowley will be stuck like this, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make sure to make it as comfortable as possible for him. And he will never let his demon go. As long as he's stuck in this form, he'll be stuck with Aziraphale, too, whether he'll admit that he likes it or not.  
  
  
  
Once Crowley is asleep, cradled in Aziraphale's arms, the angel sets to work.  
  
He carries Crowley along with him, now wrapped around his neck like a living, breathing, scarf so as not to wake him, he knows Crowley would sense his absence if he left him to sleep in the other room. And worrying the demon unnecessarily is the opposite of what he wants.  
  
Setting up a few things in the room with the plants first, he leaves for the living room- he doesn't want to alter Crowley's little plant shelter too much without his permission, and perhaps he will even like to spend more time in the living area with Aziraphale once he doesn't have to chase the sun in the other room for warmth anymore...  
  
Smiling, Aziraphale does a few quite frivolous miracles, and then places the things that turn up out of nowhere exactly to Crowley's comfort by hand.  
  
  
  
  
  
When Crowley wakes up, he feels warm.  
  
It's an all-encompassing feeling, has hum drowsy and clinging to sleep for a while longer, because this can't be reality now, can it? And he's so relaxed, it's easy to doze off again...  
  
When he wakes more fully, he notices what has him so warm- he's on a heated surface, and sunlight- no, a heatlamp, it does feel different to sunlight, but is no less welcome- is shining down on him. And Aziraphale is stroking a hand over his body, making him feel loved and cherished and /warm/ all over...  
  
"_Angel_?" It's half a hiss, half exhale. He barely cares, as long as Aziraphale still understands him.  
  
"Oh, you're awake! Are you comfortable, dear?"   
  
Crowley's tongue flicks out to tickle Aziraphale's hand, and the angel laughs in delight. When Crowley is feeling playful, it can't be too bad.  
  
"Yesss angel, it'sss wonderful"   
  
Aziraphale smiles and presses a kiss to his head, and alright, Crowley could really get used to this.

Do you remember anything? From the fall?  
  
Crowley's eyes get glassy as he stares into the distance. If he weren't stuck in a snake's skin right now, he might have cried.  
  
Sorry, dearest, I didn't think-  
  
I remember _everything_. Crowley interrupts him. And then he slithers into Aziraphale's arms, and the angel holds him close until Crowley stops shivering.  
  
  
  


During the next days, Crowley is getting more and more restless.  
  
He keeps moving around, slithering from one room to the next, rubbing himself along doorframes and wall, laying down first under the heatlamp Aziraphale miracled for him, slithering over the weird mossy stones the angel probably got from the nearest petstore ("I'm ssstill a demon, angel! Not your pet sssnake! But thhhanks."), moving back to the plants, then cuddling up with Aziraphale, but as soon as he thinks he might finally get comfortable, he feels the urge to move again. It's like an itch he can't scratch...  
  
At first, he thinks maybe it's because he didn't move much in the days prior and didn't use any of his powers either, so he has to use up all of his pent-up energy. He tries not to go on Aziraphale's nerves too much and decides not to slither back into his arms while the angel is reading, knowing he'll only move away again before the angel can even finish a page. In the evening, however, as he's getting drowsy, Aziraphale scoops him up and let's him sleep on his chest. Crowley feels grateful.   
  
When he wakes up the next morning, he suddenly knows that what he had metaphorically thought of an itch he can't scratch is an actual itch, in fact it itches like crazy, and his skin feels weird...  
  
He opens his eyes to look down on himself and assess the damage when-   
  
"Whatthhhhefffuck?"  
  
He can't see properly! Everything is blurry, like a fog laying on top of his eyes! And what he does see is parts of his skin coming loose- is this it then? He's been a snake for too long and can't change back and now thus will be his demise?!  
  
He hectically turns his head around, trying to figure out what is wrong, hoping that maybe if he'll turn his head just so his eyesight will come back- but it doesn't get better, why doesn't it get better- why  
  
  
  
Crowley feels a hand on his scales, calming strokes bringing him out of his panic.  
  
Aziraphale, woken by his distress, is hunched over him.  
  
"Oh, Crowley, you're Shedding! Has this never happened before?"  
  
"Doesssss it look like it'ss happened before?!" Crowley asks, still a little freaked out, but less so now that Aziraphale is there with a logical explanation. "Are you sure? How do you know this, anyway?"  
  
"Uh, well, I might have read up about snake behavior when I was improving your, um, habitat and-"  
  
"Habitat?! I'm not sssome pet! Ugh, thiss itchesss like hell, fuck, angel, help me! I can't see what I'm doing anyway!"  
  
Gently lifting the snake-demon up, Aziraphale walks into the bathroom. Crowley immediately goes limp in his arms, all fight draining from him. He feels tired, exhausted, sad and frustrated with his body, everything even more wrong than before.   
  
"I read that it helps snakes to have a successful shedding cycle when they are in a moist environment" Aziraphale explains, setting Crowley down on the cupboard next to the bathtub and letting water into the tub. "I think we can probably convert your plant room into something more tropical, but for now you might want to soak in the tub?"  
  
"Moisssst" Crowley hisses, disdainfully. "Sssoak. Ngk." he doesn't even have it in himself to complain much about the angel's language, the thought of a warm bath bringing a stop to all the itching is too good. "Ughh. Alrighht, anggel- hey, I can get in by myssself!"   
  
Aziraphale, who had bent down to once again pick him up, moves his hands away, chuckling softly, and presses a kiss to his head. "Alright, but know that you don't have to. I'm here if you need anything."   
  
Crowley immediately feels bad about snapping and flicks his tongue at Aziraphale's hands before the other can retreat. When Aziraphale turns back around, he curls around his arms, letting the angel carry him over into the warm water.  
  
"Uhhhhh" Yes, this does feel a lot better already... Only one thing missing, really.   
  
"Read to me, angel?"   
  
Aziraphale happily complies.

After a few hours, Crowley wakes up because the itching is back. Ugh. He isn't in the tub anymore, either....

"_Zzziraphhale_?" he hisses tiredly, and the angel stands up from where he had been sitting by his side. Why hasn't he noticed him immediately? Why is he so exhausted, anyway?

Cool water hits his skin, and he notices that it is Aziraphale, using the spray bottle that's usually for his plants. He wants to complain that he isn't a vegetable, but it feels way too good for that, the water bringing relief to his itchy scales. Where is he, anyway? Ah, in the plant room, Aziraphale must've cleaned out a bigger spot on the windowsill to put him down without jostling the plants, usually he barely fits there and only carefully slithers around the plants in a kind of slalom. 

"M hungry" he grumbles. "Miracle me sssomethhing?"

"I don't know, Crowley, I read it's best not to feed a snake during a shed, digesting takes up too much energy-"

Crowley hisses, annoyed, and curles up tightly, snout hidden between other scales. Aziraphale doesn't let this stop him, keeps spraying him with water, knowing that the demon must feel miserable and not taking his bad mood personally. 

Soon enough, Crowley gets bored of his moping.

"Can I go back in the bathhh?"

"Sure, dearest, I only didn't want to keep you in the water when you fell asleep..."

"Sssss not like I would drown" Crowley grumbles.

Aziraphale smiles, perhaps just a tiny bit patronising. "I was more afraid you'd wake up with water in your nose, dearest..."

Crowley huffs.

Aziraphale only fills the tub a little this time, so Crowley can easily rest his head on his tummy and keep his snout out of the water as he goes back to sleep. Aziraphale keeps spraying water onto the parts of him that aren't covered by the water in the tub. Yes, he could have miracle the air around Crowley to stay moist, but continuously doing something makes him at least a little useful. He hates seeing Crowley in pain or discomfort without being able to help.

A few hours later, Crowley wakes up feeling at the same time better and worse- his eyesight has gotten even worse and the parts where old skin is still stuck to his body itch terribly, but parts of the skin have already fallen off. Wriggling back and forth, he tries to get out of the rest of it, splashing water around and almost tying himself into knots-

Aziraphale's hands steady him, gentle fingers helping him out of the skin. The first part goes off easily enough, a wide streak of half-transparent skin leaving his body. The rest takes longer, going off in bits and pieces, and while Crowley would love to just rip it all off, Aziraphale keeps his hands steady and gentle as he peels back the skin. He's especially careful around Crowley's head and face, and then- 

Ah! He can see again! Oh, this feels wonderful... 

"Thanksss, angel." 

Relaxed in his new skin, he soon after goes to sleep laying curled up on top of Aziraphale, feeling tingly all over.

The next morning, Crowley wakes up feeling- different. Half afraid something else is wrong this time, he blinks himself fully awake and- oh! He's in his human form, squishing Aziraphale into the mattress. 

"Oof!" Aziraphale coughs, immediately awake as well, his confused face turning into a bright, wide smile as he lays eyes on his demon. 

Crowley rolls off of him, and he is so happy to be back but- "oh, man, could this really not have happened a day earlier?!" 

Aziraphale laughs out loud, drawing him into a hug, and Crowley is happy in a way he can't describe when he can finally hug his angel back again, pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

"I love you, Aziraphale. Thank you."

"No need to thank me, dearest" Aziraphale pulls back a little, smiling at him. "I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically I suppose if you want to read it in chronological order you can read the [Roomba Fics](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19788166) before reading the next chapter, but I just put all the Snake!Crowley ficlets together in this :)


	2. Epilogue in the Bookshop

_Once Crowley has his control over his body back, he does enjoy being a snake from time to time, knowing that Aziraphale doesn't mind it. Well, he should probably change into this shape from time to time anyway, so he doesn't end up stuck in it again... Mostly, he relaxes in his snake-form in the bookshop, smelling Aziraphale's scent while the angel is out and about, doing whatever an unemployed angel does on yet another one of eternal days off._

A customer walks into a bookshop. 

Nothing about this is, in itself, extraordinary. 

However, in this case, the bookshop is of the one and only Mr. A. Z. Fell, and the customer, once he opens the door, is greeted by the sight of a Giant Black Snake sitting on the front desk.

The customer screams and runs out.

Crowley smirks- if a snake can smirk? well, he certainly does his best- and coils up on Aziraphale's desk, careful not to tip over the piles of books on either side of him. What is taking the angel so long getting coffee, anyway?

Another person, having watched the first customer's hasty retreat from the bookshop, hurriedly makes their way over.

They've wanted to have a look inside this bookshop for _years _now, but it had always been closed when they have passed it on their way home from work in the past... Now, it _seems_ to at least be open, and whatever scared the other guy can't be _that_ bad, can it? 

They open the door, have a look around. 

Books, and it is a little dark and dusty, but nothing exciting in si- 

"Ah!" there's a giant black snake on the desk! And no other person in sight... 

Wait. Surely it can't be real, right? Maybe just a plastic thingy meant to scare of thieves while the owner is on a coffee run? (The customer will never know how close to the truth that thought gets. Well, except for the part about the plastic...)

Carefully, they step closer. Despite trying to be rational- 'you know this thing can't be real!'- they still keep in mind exactly _how_ they could make their way out of the door and back onto the relative safety of the street if need be.

They almost made it halfway to the desk when- did the thing just move? Does it _breathe_? 

Alright, maybe they should just leave, after all the shop's owner isn't anywhere to be found anyway, so... Yes, let's just quickly move back-

They stumble over a book on the ground- and when they look back up, they are faced with the yellow eyes of a very awake, very alive snake.

"Fuck."

For a second they are frozen in place. Then, they run out of the shop, never looking back. Yeah, maybe it was good that the shop had never been open before when they passed it in the past. They want _books_, after all, not a wild menagerie! 

The third customer of the day comes hours later, and brings a little forth customer along.

"Mummy, mummy, you promised me-" 

"We'll go to the comic book shop later honey, just try to be quiet in here for a few minutes so mummy can look for a book she needs alright? Here, you still have the Yoko Tsuno one aunty gave you earlier-"

"Can I have a lollipop? Please please please!"

"Not in the bookshop, honey, but if you're nice and quiet you can have one after. How's that sound? Come, sit down over there while I- oh! Hello, sorry-"

As they turn a corner around a bookshelf, the couch comes fully into few, and the person on it sits up, squinting at them through long red hair and fumbling for the sunglasses on the table in front of the couch.

"Ngk. 'Ziraphale, customers!" Can't a tired demon sleep in peace _anywhere_? First the desk, now the couch. Ugh. Should have really gone to the flat to nap. Except Aziraphale isn't there...

Crowley moves into more of a sitting position, legs flopping down onto the floor, stroking over the silky skirt to smooth out the creases, and looks over at the customers. The woman has by now started browsing the books, leaving her little kid at Crowley's side, apparently deeming the demon too little of a threat to be concerned about. Oh well.

Turning to the kid, who stares at the demon with wide, fascinated eyes, Crowley grins- and, alright, maybe trying to look non-threatening, so what? It's just that it would inconvenience Aziraphale if the kid ran off screaming. 

_Tiny customer™_, as Crowley mentally <strike>christened</strike> named the child, climbs onto the couch and sits down facing the demon, still not saying a single word. _Okay, so this is getting just a little too unnerving to be ignored_, Crowley thinks, and lifts an eyebrow at the kid. TC™ tries to imitate the move, failing the first few tries before succeeding. Crowley grins back a the kid. Ah, yes, you gotta teach them young. Humans are funny that way.

A few moments layer, Aziraphale comes out of the backroom, smiling happily the way only an angel can smile, and when the woman walks to the front desk to greet him, the kid runs after her. Crowley almost feels sad. Oh well. Maybe now the demon will actually manage to get that nap.

Pecking Aziraphale on the cheek while walking past, Crowley goes into the backroom himself, turning back into snake-form- albeit a smaller version than earlier that day- and curls up on the armchair, which is still warm from Aziraphale sitting there only moments ago. With a smile- at least in mind, given that snakes don't really do human facial expressions- Crowley goes to sleep.

After what feels like only seconds passed, the demon wakes up to a tiny voice:

"_Coool!_"

It's the kid. Of course. Tiny chaos agents, never doing what they're supposed to be doing or keeping out of where they're supposed to be keeping out of. <strike>It's part of why Crowley likes them so much.</strike>

Crowleu sticks a forked snake- tongue out at the kid, hisses and hopes it'll go away without doing something stupid.

"Cooool" the child repeats, nor freaked out in the slightest. 

Before Crowley can start worrying about how to get out of this situation, Aziraphale's voice is audible from behind the front desk, getting louder.

"This book is from my personal collection, I will _not_ be parting from it, thank you very much, have a good day!"

If anything ever is, this is clearly a dismissal.

The woman starts looking around for her kid, who slouches over to her, sad to leave the cool snake behind.

Crowley breathes a sigh of relief and, once the sound of the front door opening and closing echoes through the shop, slithers out to Aziraphale. 

"You- _yawn_\- sseem to be able to sscare of your customers well enough by yoursself..."

"Well, I wouldn't say scare- wait, have you been threatening innocent people in this shop again?!"

"Not on purpose! Ugh, I swear to- someone, I didn't even mean to scare them, I just wanted a nap." Crowley moves up Aziraphale's arm, winding around his neck, and Aziraphale's hand comes up to gently stroke the demon's snout.

"Are you tired, my dear?"

Crowley tries to shrug it of- having forgotten that this doesn't quite work in the shape the demon is currently in, so the movement instead would have made the snake fall if Aziraphale hadn't been faster.

Holding Crowley close to his chest and looking into the demon's half-open, sleepily drooping eyes, Aziraphale shakes his head, fondly and slightly exasperated. "Oh why didn't you say so! Come on, come on, let me just lock up here and then we'll get you into bed- _no, we're closed_!" he finishes, more sharply, towards the people trying to enter the shop, and forcefully twists the OPEN sign around. Crowley smiles, already half asleep with the angel watching over him.


End file.
